civil station under the Crown of equal or greater amount, and be subject to a proportionate abatement if the value of such situation should be less than the amount of the pension.

9th. That it is expedient, that after the expiration of any existing interest of any office, which by law is intitled to the sale of any appointment in any of the Courts of Law, provision should be made to prevent the sale of such offices, under such regulations as may be conducive to the public interest, and to the dignity of the offices in which such right is now vested.

10th. That it is expedient that the office of Registrar of the High Court of Admiralty, and of the High Court of Appeals for Prizes, after the expiration of the interests at present vested in possession or reversion in the same, be regulated; and the amount of the emoluments of the same, after providing such salary as may be deemed expedient for such office, be applied to defray the salaries now payable to the Judge or any other officer in the said courts, and the surplus, after making such payments, be carried to the account of the Consolidated Fund of Great Britain.

11th. That the office of Clerk of the Crown, and Prothonotary of the Court of King's Bench in Ireland, the office of Clerk of the Common Pleas in the Court of Exchequer in Ireland, and Prothonotary of the Common Pleas in Ireland, should, after the expiration of the interest now vested in possession or reversion in the same, be regulated; and that the emoluments of the same, beyond the amount of such salary as may be provided for such offices respectively, be applied to the discharge of the salaries of the Judges, or other officers in the establishment of such courts respectively, and the surplus, if any, be carried to the Consolidated Fund of Ireland.

12th. That a bill, or bills, be brought in to carry into effect such of the said resolutions as may require to be provided for by Parliament.

THE END.

2.

REMARKS ON THE MEETING HELD 5TH NOV. 1809, TO CELEBRATE THE ACQUITTAL OF MESSRS. HARDY, J. H. TOOKE, THELWALL, AND OTHERS, IN NOV. 1794; WITH AN ABSTRACT OF THE FACTS PROVED ON THOSE TRIALS, AND ALSO OF THE CONFESSION OF JAMES WATT, EXECUTED AT EDINBURGH FOR HIGH TREASON IN OCT.

No man has a right to pry into his neighbour's private concerns; and the opinions "of any man are his private concerns, when he keeps them so; that is to say, "while they are confined to himself, his family, and particular friends. Bat "when he makes these opinions public; when he once attempts to make converts, "whether it be in religion, politics, or any thing else; when he once comes for"ward as a candidate for public admiration, esteem, or compassion; his motives, "every action of his life, become the fair subject of public discussion." COBBETT's" Observations on the Emigration of Dr. Priestley ? repeated also, by way of quotation, by Mr. Cobbett, in the introduction to the "History of his own Life,”

My dear Sir,

As I believe you are perfectly aware that the extraordinary versatility* of Mr. Cobbett's political principles, and his profligate carelessness about the

*

* For proof of the first, compare the letter to Dr. Priestley with the numbers of the Modern Weekly Register: for proof of the second, examine that Register.

truth or falsehood of his statements of fact, whenever his passions or interest are concerned, have long since produced in my mind a rooted dislike of his character as a man and as a writer, you may be surprised at receiving a letter from me, to which I have prefixed an extract from this gentleman's works: but the motto which I have chosen contains a sentiment in perfect unison with my own notions, as to propriety and justice; and I acted strictly according to those notions, when I wrote many of those passages contained in the letter which I addressed to you on the Civil List; and every day's experience has since confirmed me in them. The sentiment is expressed in Mr. Cobbett's usual style of perspicuity and decisiveness; and they, who have been used to place implicit reliance on his judgment, cannot object to his authority. I have, accordingly, adopted Mr. Cobbett's maxim, and in his own words; and I shall apply the principle of justice and prudence, which it contains, in the following letter, by availing myself of the right above recognised, viz. of strictly and freely inquiring into the character and probable views of those persons, who so confidently affirm that they have discovered intolerable grievances and imperfections in our present practical constitution; and so clamorously demand of us, by their public speeches and resolutions, that, without vigilance or suspicion, we should rely on their sagacity, prudence, and purity, for effecting an utter and radical reform in it. Now no person can deny that these persons fall within the spirit and the letter of Mr. Cobbett's maxim. They have made their opinions in politics public, and have attempted to make converts to them.---To confess the truth, I carry Mr. Cobbett's maxim even farther than he himself has stated it in my motto. I think that every man has not only a right to examine the motives and actions of men, who push themselves into public notice, and take upon them to recommend great

and important political innovations; but, if he should discover probable grounds for suspecting those motives, or disapproving those actions, that it is his duty to disclose to the public the reasons, on which he founds his distrust and disapprobation. I shall, without hesitation, undertake this duty; and I can do it with little difficulty, because I have not the most distant acquaintance, or connexion, with any of the gentlemen whom I shall name or allude to, in the facts or observations which I shall submit to your consideration; and I shall confine myself to their public character, as disclosed by their public conduct.

In my former letter, respecting the Ciril List and Pensions, I flatter myself, that I have convinced you, and many others, whose opinions I hold in respect, that our present reformers have, on system, and with a view to their object, grossly misrepresented and exaggerated every existing abuse connected with those subjects; and that, in their zeal for their cause, they have not omitted to make such additions as may be supplied by a ready and inventive imagination. (See Cobbett passim) :---Secondly, that they have exclu sively attributed all existing irregularities to the weakness or wickedness of the Government and Parliaments of the present day; whereas the fact is, that almost the whole of the sinecure places or offices (concerning the propriety or extent of which the wisest and most moderate men may and do differ) are derived from our ancient establishments :---and lastly, that their assertion, that Parliament has not done, and from its constitution neither can nor will do, any thing, by way of correcting abuses, and that therefore it is wholly unworthy of public respect or confidence, is absolutely unfounded and untrue; as it has been unquestionably proved, that the Parliaments during the reign of our present King have done more in the removal of existing abuses, and preventing their recurrence, than had been effected

H